Rampur. Khemraj Rana used to take potatoes to Bhairahawa due to the lack of cold storage in the village. It is not that easy to transport them from Rampur to Bhairahawa by car. He said that to prevent the potatoes from spoiling, he used to take them to the cold storage in Bhairahawa to keep them safe.
Today, Rana does not have to take the potatoes to Bhairahawa to store them in the cold storage. He from Rampur Municipality-2, Bhalaytar, said that it has become much easier after the cold storage center was put into use in the village.
Rana has brought 50 sacks of potatoes from the Upper Farmers Vegetable Group to the Rampur cold storage built here. The initiative was launched by Rampur Municipality on Monday by issuing a notice calling on farmers to store potatoes in cold storage.
Last year, Rana had stored 50 sacks of potatoes through a group. “Last year, the potatoes stored in Rampur cold storage were good, so we brought them this year as well. It became easier to store them in a humidified center in the village itself. We had been storing potatoes in Bhairahawa until the cold storage was built here. Now we don’t have to rush to take them to Bhairahawa,” he said.
Rana believes that farmers will get a fair price if they store them now and later take them out during the off-season and sell them. Lekhnath Pokharel, 74, of Rampur-6, says that having a cold storage at his own place gives him the confidence to store potatoes safely. He said that the cold storage facility has increased production in recent years.
This year, he is preparing to store 15 sacks of food and seed potatoes.
‘Cold storage has made it much easier for farmers. Farmers who produce small amounts and produce only for household purposes have difficulty carrying and bringing 10-15 sacks of potatoes to cold storages in Bhairahawa, Pokhara and other places. With the facility in Rampur, it is easier to store and can be taken out when needed,’ Pokharel said.
The acting mayor of Rampur Municipality is preparing to store 1,500 sacks of potatoes not only from Rampur but also from Syangja Chapakot Municipality. Dobaraj Tiwari informed. He said that the municipality will manage a daily watchman to look after the potatoes. He said that the work of storing the potatoes is currently being done by mobilizing employees of the agriculture branch.
‘This time it is estimated that 3,500 to 4,000 sacks will be stored, many places are being contacted to store the potatoes, we have given priority to the locals first’ he said ‘The municipality will manage the potatoes stored here safely, the farmers are excited to be able to store them safely.’
The municipality itself is also making arrangements for storing and removing the potatoes brought here to be stored. Yubaraj Nepali, an employee of the Rampur Municipality Agriculture Branch, informed that the storage fee is being charged from the farmers at the rate of Rs. 6 per kg.
According to him, 3,370 bags of seeds and ware potatoes were stored here last year. After the construction of the cold storage here, farmers have already used the potato storage facility three times before this.
After some potatoes kept as a test in the first year had problems with germination, they were repaired and put into operation again. After the second and third years of good storage, farmers have stopped taking potatoes to outside cold storage.
It has been stated that the food potatoes currently stored will be removed in Bhadau and Asoj, while the potatoes stored for seed purposes will be removed in Kartik by publishing a public notice. Mayor Raman Bahadur Thapa says that a cold storage with a capacity of 300 metric tons has been constructed and put into use to safely store the agricultural produce produced by farmers.
Mayor Thapa said that since potatoes are produced in large quantities in the Rampur area, it has been very easy for farmers to keep their potato crop safely. The municipality has operated the cold storage facility through a tender process for the first year, and through an agreement with Suryodaya Agricultural Cooperative for the second and third years. It is stated that the municipality will manage and operate it itself for the fourth year.
The construction was completed in Baisakh 2078 BS and the cold storage facility was put into use. This is the largest capacity cold storage facility in Palpa. It was constructed by Rabina and Abisha JV Construction Pvt. Ltd. under a joint contract for Rs. 32.676 million 566 with the subsidy from the Lumbini Provincial Government. Storage will be possible in five rooms of different capacities.
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